My kids need a pick-me-up after school. They don’t snack in school here in France, which is good, and they have long school hours, which is not as good. Plus, I spend a good chunk of each year away from home, so I am a bit of a softy whenever I pick them up. They have tons of after-school activities too, so often the quickest solution is to make a stop at a cafe and load them up with sugar. A muffin and juice each and then on to whatever is happening next. Back in the day, it was 10-penny-sweets from the newsagent for me as soon as I got off the school bus. Then, as now, sugar, or rather white sugar, is what kids go for straight after school. It was never healthy, nowadays it’s not 10p either.

Enter the smooooothie. Kids are happy, they are not eating crap, and I am not spending money at a stupid cafe serving disappointing espresso so I am happy too. Let me be honest, we still go for the crap candy occasionally, but most days they are happy to come straight home where we make a delicious, nutritious smoothie together. If you can’t get your hands on the fresh fruit you want, just make sure you have some frozen berries at home. And ice, make sure you have loads of ice at home. This is because the more ice you can get in, the more it is going to be like an ice cream or a sorbet. And that, of course, is awesome. Actually, the closest thing I can compare this to would be a granita, the frozen dessert from Sicily. Dare I say, that this one is a much better frequent snack for children since it is not loaded with white sugar.

Finally, it also helps to have an awesome blender, which I don’t have at home. You will just get a finer end-product if you have one of those chef power tools, like Thermomix or Vitamix.

The fruit I used:

1 Banana200g Strawberries200g Frozen mixed berried4 KiwisSome ice

Wash & Peel Kiwi

Wash Strawberries

In the blender it all goes…

With the handle of a wooden spoon carefully bash the fruit and ice down into the blender as the blades are turning. Put the lid on but take that middle bit out and bash away, but do be careful not to get the spoon caught in the bladed. I needed to turn it off and give the whole blender a vigorous shake for side to side. As I said, I don’

After 3 minutes you will have something like this.

Serves 4

So there it is, a fruit granita full of great nutrients and vitamins and two happy kids ready to start homework. I wish.